It's pretty easy to be hard on Robert De Niro these days, given his ratio of good/bad tends to be wildly uneven, but every once in a while he seems to pull out a decent movie. Last year's "Stone" was tremendously underrated by most, and featured a pretty terrific turn by De Niro and this latest effort looks like a return to the form that we often forget the actor has. Asking yourself why you haven't heard of it? Well, perhaps you remember it as the adapation of Nick Flynn's acclaimed memoir "Another Bullshit Night In Suck City."
Now titled "Being Flynn," the story follows Nick, a young man in his twenties (Paul Dano) who works at various homeless shelters in Boston, and spots his estranged father (De Niro) seeking a bed one night, leading him to face his past. Olivia Thirlby plays Denise, the love interest who helps Dano land the job, while Julianne Moore plays Nick's mother, Jody. Lili Taylor and Dale Dickey round out the impressive cast. The film is directed by "About A Boy" and "In Good Company" helmer Paul Weitz and it certainly seems like his most dramatic work to date yet.
All in all, it's pretty impressive thus far and the trailer really delivers in the second half, though our fondness for Fleet Foxes' "Helplessness Blues" may be coloring that as well. "Being Flynn" opens next spring. Watch the trailer below or in HD at Apple.
